Navigant Research Blog

The question of whether it’s possible to make a profit from a public charging station continues to hang over the electric vehicle (EV) charging industry. The challenges are threefold:

The costs of the EV charger and installation, which remain fairly high.

The utilization rate; i.e., how many plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) are actually using the chargers each day.

The question of what PEV drivers are willing to pay for the charging.

Level 2 charging is still the most widespread type of installation deployed in public charging, and a back-of-the-envelope payback model shows that it is possible to receive a reasonable return on investment (ROI) for a Level 2 charger with high utilization and the right price point. A networked Level 2 charger with two plugs typically costs around $5,000–$6,500. Installation costs vary significantly, but can easily double the upfront investment by the site host. Operating costs are actually quite low. The electricity used is not a major cost factor, even at a relatively high cost of $0.13 per kWh (as in California, for instance). Typically, the site host will pay monthly services fees to a network operator. In some cases, it will share revenue with the operator, as well.

Just in Case

It’s important to note that there are only so many hours in the day that a public charger is going to be both accessible and likely to be used. If a dual public charger can reach utilization of around 10 charging sessions per day, and charge $2 per session, the host could make back the initial investment in 5 to 6 years.

This picture is a little rosier than the reality today, simply because the current rate of usage of public chargers is nowhere near 10 charging sessions daily. Nevertheless, this simple ROI model demonstrates that there is a pathway to profit for offering public charging services. However, there is a real question as to how many drivers will be willing to pay $2 for around 20 miles of charge, which is what a typical battery electric vehicle (BEV) driver may get from a single charging session. Given that this should cost them less than a dollar when they charge at home, it’s not clear that Level 2 public charging will ever be much more than a just-in-case opportunity for drivers. This will be even more accurate as we see affordable, longer range BEVs come on the market, since the need to top up during the day will be lessened.

Keeping It Free

These economics are one reason why many businesses will continue to offer public charging as a free service, figuring that there’s more benefit from using the chargers to attract customers, and keep them shopping longer, than to collect charging fees. It’s also why public charging manufacturers are offering leasing or no money down, no interest financing to keep the upfront cost from being so daunting.

According to Navigant Research’s new report, Electric Vehicle Charging Services, global revenue from EV charging services is expected to grow from $81.1 million annually in 2014 to $2.9 billion by 2023.

EV charging is a promising new, multibillion-dollar business sector. These forecasts include revenue from DC charging, which is likely to be a more lucrative segment than Level 2. But our scenario also assumes that some public charging will remain as a free perk, rather than as a direct revenue generator, given the questions that linger about drivers’ willingness to pay for top-up Level 2 charging.

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During January’s North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), several manufacturers announced new diesel models to help them meet increasingly stringent fuel economy standards. Nissan unveiled a second-generation Titan XD that straddles the line between light and heavy duty pickups. Nissan will initially build the Titan XD, scheduled to launch this fall, with only a diesel engine; gas trucks with V6 and V8 engines will come later.

GM will be introducing a diesel engine in its Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon later this year that could potentially increase fuel economy from the current 27 mpg to 30 mpg. Fiat Chrysler announced it will be increasing production of the Dodge Ram 1500 EcoDiesel pickup from 10% of models to 20%.

In the world of diesel cars, Volkswagen will unveil the Golf Gran Turismo Diesel (GTD) car at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show in March. Later this year, Suzuki will add an automatic transmission and several other updates to its SX4 S-Cross.

A Particular Problem

Diesel cars and trucks usually attain higher fuel economy ratings than their gasoline counterparts. According to Navigant Research’s report, Automotive Fuel Efficiency Technologies, the share of diesel cars and light trucks in North America is expected to increase from 1% in 2015 to 2.8% in 2025 as automakers continue to introduce more fuel-efficient models.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has designs on eliminating diesel vehicles from her city by 2020. Mayor Hidalgo recently announced a ban on some diesel delivery trucks and buses, beginning by July 2015. According to Paris24.com, Hidalgo will provide significant financial incentives for investing in less polluting vehicles. London Mayor Boris Johnson has similar concerns around particulate emissions and is doubling the congestion charges for driving diesel vehicles in the city center to £20.

One solution to reduce the amount of diesel emissions is to add a hybrid drivetrain to a diesel vehicle. Hybrid vehicles reduce the use of the diesel engine by relying on battery power during low speeds and when idling, thus reducing particulate emissions. According to Navigant Research’s report, Electric Drive Trucks and Buses, the currently small market for medium and heavy duty diesel hybrid trucks will grow by a 2014–2023 compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28.5% to nearly 95,000 units worldwide by 2023.

Disruptive technologies don’t appear overnight. They come in gradual iterations until refinements and related technologies evolve to a point when they become so overwhelmingly useful that they are viewed as a necessary replacement for what came before.

While plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) have come a long way since their introduction in the 1990s, they are not viewed by the general public as must-haves today, due to their higher prices and driving range limitations. However, the next generation of PEVs, due to arrive in 3 years, will likely have a combination of features and prices that will convince most car buyers that driving a car with an internal combustion engine is a habit worth breaking.

Compare the development of PEVs to that of the smartphone. GM’s EV1 was the first significant PEV available in the 1990s, and its limitations in driving range and overall comfort prevented it and other PEVs of that era from catching on with consumers.

The evolution of smartphones can also be traced back to the early 1990s, when handheld personal digital assistants included an operating system with personal productivity features, and the first mobile phones that enabled talking (almost) anywhere became available. While these innovations quickly became popular with geeks and aficionados, they didn’t exactly capture a mass market.

10 Years After

Flash forward to 2009, and along came the Nissan LEAF and Chevrolet Volt, which took advantage of advances in battery technology, electric drive, display screens, navigation, and faster wireless communications to provide a driving experience that in most respects is superior to your father’s gas car. Most people have at least heard of a PEV by now, though PEV sales in the United States in 2014 were still less than 1% of all new light duty vehicles.

It similarly took more than a decade for personal digital assistants and mobile phones to converge, and for the then rudimentary technologies to be enhanced with better display screens and wireless connectivity, and new applications including texting, navigation, data sharing, and voice commands. For smart phones, the Blackberry, Windows smart phones, and then the iPhone became must-have devices that initially came with a high premium, but within a few years other manufacturers prompted competition that put this combination of features within reach of most consumers.

Tipping Point

That hasn’t happened yet with PEVs. But by 2018 we’ll have the Tesla Model 3 and the Chevrolet Bolt, which will package new technologies and driving enhancements to further separate PEVs from the pack. Anticipation for the Model 3’s extended range and Model S-like performance has been building since it was first announced, in 2013. The Chevrolet Bolt concept, which was announced at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January 2015, promises similar or better range for a lower price.

GM has said that owners will be able to start the Bolt with a smartphone application, and that ride-sharing and self-parking features will be included with the vehicles. Some of these features may be available in conventional cars by that time, but with the Bolt (and likely other PEVs), you’ll get them all under one roof for around $30,000, along with superior electric drive performance and the savings and convenience of driving on electricity.

As with Apple and Samsung in the mobile device sector, Tesla and GM aspire to be the agents of change, and for now we can only guess at the electric alternatives that Nissan, Ford, Volkswagen/Audi, BMW, and Daimler will have at dealerships in 2018. Like smartphones, PEVs have certainly had their shares of missteps in their march toward ubiquity, but as Albert Einstein said, “Failure is success in progress.”

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Kansas City Power & Light (KCP&L), announced in late January that it will install 1,000 public EV charging stations in Kansas City, creating a dramatic increase from the 40 stations that are currently available. The stations are expected to be installed by the end of summer 2015.

According to Navigant Research’s report, Electric Vehicle Geographic Forecasts, there were only 2,687 EVs on the road in the entire state of Missouri at the end of 2014. The report also projects sales of 1,615 plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) for the state of Missouri in 2015.

With such low PEV numbers in the state thus far, perhaps this move by KCP&L is an effort to encourage more PEV adopters in the Kansas City area. Even California, the largest adopter of EVs in the country, has fewer than 2,000 public EV charging stations. And Missouri, unlike California and other states with high PEV penetration rates, has no tax incentives for EV buyers.

Risky Business

The business proposition for the utility doesn’t look good, either. The network of chargers is estimated to cost $20 million, and the network will be free to the public for the first 2 years of operation. How many years will it take to recoup that investment through added sales of electricity and usage fees once implemented? Perhaps KCP&L is following the path of California utilities that see significant value in controlling the flow of electricity and re-selling it through EV charging stations. Several California utility companies successfully petitioned the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to allow utilities in the state to re-sell electricity via EV charging stations.

Nevertheless, California has far more EV users and according to PlugInsights, 81% of EV charging occurs at users’ homes, with just 10% of charging occurring at public stations (the remaining is mostly attributed to private charging stations and at workplaces). Thus, even if more Missourians do adopt EVs, the majority will likely be charging their vehicles at home.

Real Impacts

If KCP&L isn’t intending to make money from this initiative, but instead trying to reduce emissions, it would be better suited to convert the state’s existing power plants from coal to natural gas. This would be more cost effective and have a far more significant impact on emissions and air quality. Physically, it does not require much in the way of new equipment to convert a coal plant to run on natural gas. Missouri has one of the dirtiest electricity grids in the country, with coal accounting for a whopping 83% of the state’s electricity generation in 2013.

The map below, from the Union of Concerned Scientists’ report, State of Charge, shows that the gasoline vehicle mile per gallon (mpg) equivalent of an electric car is just 35 mpg in the SPNO region, where Missouri is located. This means that a gasoline car with 35 mpg, such as a Volkswagen Passat, would have the same impact on the environment as an electric car in Missouri (due to the high coal usage in the state). While KCP&L is moving toward removing a few coal power plants from its generation portfolio, an overhaul of the company’s electricity generation sources would have a much bigger impact on emissions reductions than building 1,000 EV charging stations that may or may not be used by consumers.